This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of the Ericaceae family which has been named Erica `Red Pacifica`. This new heather variety was discovered by me at my commercial nursery in Watsonville, Calif. It was discovered as a seedling growing in a cultivated field of Erica regerminans `Pacifica` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,430), the variety believed to be the seed parent. The pollen parentage is unknown. It was noticed because of its distinctive magenta-pink color, its taller growth habit and earlier blooming time than the seed parent `Pacifica`. I am not able to determine the species affiliation of the `Red Pacifica`.
Since my discovery of this new plant, I have reproduced it through successive generations by means of cuttings and have found that its distinctive color, size and blooming time remain true from generation to generation and appear to be firmly fixed. This variety is now being grown for the commercial marked at my nursery which is located along the temperate Central California coast.
`Red Pacifica` is a regerminans-type heather and resembles its oldest ancestor Erica regerminans, a variety in commercial production for many decades, in its overall shape of the plant, size and shape of the blooms and the way they are borne on the stems.
The closest commercial cultivar to my new variety, of which I am aware, is the Erica regerminans `Pacifica`, discovered by me several years ago. The characteristics which distinguish the new cultivar from Erica regerminans `Pacifica` are as follows:
1. `Red Pacifica` begins to bloom in mid-September, and blooms two (2) weeks earlier than `Pacifica`;
2. `Red Pacifica` has a more vivid, deeper magenta-pink color than `Pacifica`; and
3. The stems of `Red Pacifica` average 6 inches more in length than `Pacifica` making the plant height significantly taller.
The new cultivar, `Red Pacifica`, can also be distinguished by the following characteristics from another of the regerminans-type heathers, the cultivar `Augustina` (U.S. Plant Pat. Ser. No. 07/393,674), discovered and propagated by me: `Red Pacifica` begins to bloom about four (4) weeks after `Augustina`, and `Red Pacifica` is a paler pink color than `Augustina`.
The discovery of these new heathers with different blooming times, gives the commercial grower the ability to provide the flower industry with regerminans-type heather in bloom continuously from mid-August through November; starting with `Augustina` blooming in mid-August and continuing successively with `Red Pacifica` blooming next around mid-September, `Pacifica` next around early October, and ending with the regerminans blooming in early November.
The original `Red Pacifica` plant came from seed and I presume it is also capable of producing seed. I have not looked for any seed since I propagate `Red Pacifica` by cuttings. `Red Pacifica` is resistant to powdery mildew and verticillium wilt, but sensitive to phytophthora and pithium.